


Avalanche

by PhoenixInTheAsh



Series: Jason Todd Birthday Week 2018 [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, there's a happy ending if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 07:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15635943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixInTheAsh/pseuds/PhoenixInTheAsh
Summary: For dailyjasontodd's Birthday Week Prompts.Day One (August 9): Childhood and One Emotion.If there is one thing that gets Jason through everything, it's his stubbornness and determination. It's hard to believe where he ends up because of it.





	Avalanche

    It seemed like it was always raining in Gotham. On top of that, it was rarely  _ just _ rain, the downpours frequently accompanied by lightning and thunder.

    Jason stands on the sidewalk at the mercy of the storm and wonders how Metropolis can always have such nice weather despite being relatively close.

    He gives the rain one last glare before pointlessly pulling the hood of his jacket over his wet hair and finishing the last few blocks on his trek home.

    He pauses on the stairs, silently praying that Willis hadn’t come home this time after his release. Jason and his mother had been doing just fine on their own, thank you.

    It seems that God must be deaf once he can hear Willis and Catherine arguing even before he pushes the door open. The adults fall silent upon his entrance, but Catherine approaches him first, taking one of the grocery bags from his arms.

    “Thank you, Jason. Did you get the eggs?”

    He nods, not looking at her, hard gaze fixed on the man who happens to have donated to his DNA.

    “Good. Say hello to your father,” she says, always trying to teach him manners. Not that it works. She takes the bag into the kitchen to unpack it, leaving the two of them alone.

    “Hello, Father.” His tone is stiff and cool, throwing his shoulders back and chest out to show that he’s the man of the house here. Willis laughs.

    “Look at you, acting all grown up. Good to see you, kiddo.”

    Jason skirts around him to get to his mother, bringing the other bag and helping her unpack the groceries. Willis goes outside to the fire escape without another word, probably to smoke. Once he’s out of earshot, Jason turns to his mother. 

    “When did he get back?”

    “A few hours ago.” She doesn’t look at him, knowing what he thinks about having Willis around.

    Jason sighs, turning to put some mac and cheese in the cabinet.

_ This is the last time, _ Jason thinks.  _ Next time, we won’t let him in. Mom and I don’t need him. We don’t need anyone _ .

    A week later, Jason is relieved when his dad is arrested again. He thinks it’s the fresh bruises on Catherine’s arms that keep her from questioning or arguing when he asks about moving. They are settled into another, admittedly crappier apartment by the end of the month.

    Things are good, for a while. Willis doesn’t try to find them the next time he’s released. Jason is in school. Catherine is working all the time, and sleeping whenever she’s home. For a moment, things are perfect.

_ We don’t need him. _

    The bills begin to add up, and somehow that triggers an avalanche. Jason helps out at the corner bodega after school for some extra cash to help out, determined to keep Willis out of their lives for good. Catherine takes a turn for the worse, staying in bed for days at a time. 

    She loses both of her jobs.

    Jason doesn’t know what is wrong. He thinks it might be drugs, or something like cancer. Whatever is going on, she’s hiding it well, and she won’t talk to him about it. He misses her.

    The bills aren’t going away, so Jason doubles down on work in the hope that she will get better soon. He starts helping a mechanic the next block over.

_ We don’t need him. We don’t need anyone. _

    It becomes a mantra to get himself through the day. He quits school to have enough to cover rent, buying them a little more time for Catherine to get better. He does as well as any eleven-year-old can, but it still isn’t enough.

    He is starting to think that they just might get through this when the avalanche comes to a screeching halt, and he is thrown into the silence of free falling over a cliff. He lets himself cry over his mother’s lifeless body for a while. He heard somewhere that you have to let yourself grieve. When his cheeks dry, he picks himself up and gets to work packing. He finds his old backpack and fills it with as much food and clothing he can squeeze into it. He runs once he calls the police to report a dead body.

    If child services caught up to him, he’d be thrown into an orphanage or worse, foster care. With those options, he’d rather be on his own. He’d be better off alone. He  _ had _ to be.

_ I won’t let that happen, I  _ won’t.  _ I don’t need them. I don’t need him. _

    If the mechanic notices his grimier appearance and unchanged clothes over the next several days, he doesn’t mention it. He must pick up on the new look of determination in Jason’s eyes though, because it isn’t long before he’s pulled aside and asked if he’d like to make a little more money. Jason doesn’t hesitate.

    The mechanic teaches Jason how to remove a car’s tires in the quickest, most efficient way, and lets him know in no uncertain terms that he will be compensated for any tires he brings in, no matter where they came from.

    Jason figures that boosting tires isn’t the worst thing he could be caught doing as a kid, but he is still extra careful, at first.

    His new situation sucked, sure, but he was getting by. He managed to eat somewhat regularly. Found a dry spot to sleep.  _ Without _ Willis.  _ Without _ the foster system. He  _ could  _ do this.

_ I don’t need anyone. Not him. Not Mom. No one. I can do this on my own. _

    Months went by, and Jason got better at it. He was the fastest of anyone else bringing tires for that shop. They’d had a race. It was a nice confidence boost in an otherwise grim situation, so he decided to take the praise where he could get it.

    He got too cocky once, doing little tricks with the rolling tires and his trusty tire iron instead of getting the tires and getting out. He was nearly caught.  _ Nearly _ . It wasn’t enough to knock him off his high horse, and only served to strengthen his ego.

_ I don’t need anyone but myself. I’m better on my own. _

    Not too long after that mistake, he makes another grave mistake on his ego trip. To be fair, the car had been right there in the open. Really, it’s the dude’s own fault for leaving his car in this neighborhood for so long. He should have expected his tires to be jacked.

    Jason’s cockiness failed him once more. One tire would earn him a fortune, sure, but  _ four _ ? Four might get him to his eighteenth birthday. He could get a legitimate job then, maybe start training as a real mechanic.

    He eyes the sleek car from a distance one more time before grabbing his tire iron and going back for the last tire.

_ This is going to change my life. _

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't entirely sure I was going to attempt these prompts, but here we are. Hopefully I'll get them all up in time.


End file.
